Lorraine Williamson
There are dishes in Spain that slip quietly under the radar, overshadowed by tapas with star power or glossy plates designed for holiday snaps. Yet few things capture the spirit of Spanish home cooking quite like a good revueltos. Call it scrambled eggs if you like, but that barely does it justice.
A proper revueltos is slow and silky, built from instinct rather than precision, and shaped by whatever the season brings.
A Marbella favourite with mushrooms and langostinos
We ate one recently in Marbella, in a small local bar that doesn’t try to impress. The space is basic, the service unfussy but knowledgeable, and the staff know exactly what their regulars want. It’s not a place for finesse, but one where the food does the talking. Their revueltos — folded with sautéed mushrooms and plump langostinos — arrives without flourish, just confident, comforting cooking. It reminded me how many of Spain’s most beloved dishes are often the least decorated.
November: Setas, seafood and slower evenings
November is the perfect month to appreciate these quiet classics. Northern forests grow heavy with setas; the coast delivers a fresh wave of autumn seafood; and restaurants settle into a calmer rhythm after the heat of summer. A dish like revueltos feels made for this season — warm, generous and grounded.
The other underrated staple: Egg and chips
Spend more than five minutes in a small Andalucian restaurant and you’ll find another understated favourite: egg and chips. Sometimes green peppers are added to the fryer until they blister and soften. The chips form the base, the fried eggs sit proudly on top, and the waiter usually breaks the yolks so they run through the plate — or, in some places, mixes everything before it even reaches the table. It’s simple, cheap and strangely addictive.
Why these ‘everyday’ dishes matter
These dishes — revueltos, eggs with chips and peppers — show how Spain eats when the tourists go home. They speak of neighbourhood kitchens, slower evenings and the calm confidence of cooking that doesn’t need embellishment. Marbella has plenty of these small, unhurried places once the crowds fade: bars that know their customers and stick to what they do well.
Your turn: What do you love to eat in Spain?
These are the plates that linger, not because they’re extravagant, but because they’re honest.
So tell us — which local dishes do you return to again and again in Spain?